SLO BYTES PC USER'S GROUP
NEWSLETTER - MARCH, 1988
CLUB INFORMATION
The SLO BYTES Newsletter is a monthly publication of
SLO BYTES of the Central Coast of California (San Luis
Obispo) an IBM/compatible personal computer user's
group. Information found in this Newsletter is
derived from magazine articles, manuals, books, other
PC user group newsletters, and our own members. The
purpose of this publication is to inform our members
of meetings, their program content, and other
information related to the use of IBM-PC's and
compatible computers. Dues to SLO BYTES are $18 per
year. As a member you will receive a membership card,
a new member manual, SLO BYTES monthly newsletter, and
free use of our Public Domain Library. Contributors
are asked to submit articles for the next issue by the
15th of each month either in writing or on disk (ASCII
format preferred). Address all correspondence to SLO
BYTES PC USER'S GROUP, % Bob Ward, 2100 Andre' Ave.,
Los Osos, Ca. 93402. Phone 8am-5pm 756-2164, after
5pm - (805)528-0121. Other user's groups have
permission to publish any material found in this
newsletter.
Treasurer: John Rohde
1214 Vista Del Lego
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Have a computer related item to sell? Tell the editor
and we will put it in our newsletter. For further
information call Bob Ward @ (805)528-0121 eves.
******************************************************
******************************************************
Meetings are held the 1st Thursday of every month,
unless noted otherwise in the newsletter calendar, at
7:15 pm. New users SIG 6:15 to 7:00 pm. Meeting
place: Cal Poly University Biology Department, Science
North 213 (new users SIG) & 215 General meeting.
******************************************************
DI$COUNT$-DI$COUNT$-DI$COUNT$-DI$COUNT$-DI$COUNT$
Discounts usually apply only to regularly priced
merchandise. Ask a salesman to make sure. You must
present your membership card to receive a discount.
Paradise Computers 5% - all computers, peripherals,
441 Marsh St. and software.
San Luis Obispo 10% - Ribbons, paper, disks &
544-7127 other expendable items.
Star Computers 5% - any software in stock.
655 Morro Bay Blvd.
Morro Bay 10% - paper, ribbons, cable &
772-7827 other supplies.
Computer Logic 10% - off list - all computers,
973 Foothill Blvd. software, computer periphe-
Store #4 rals and products. Contact
San Luis Obispo Bruce, Paul, or Dave for
544-8347 your discount.
WITCO Computers 10% off complete systems.
3563 Sueldo, 5% off computers alone
Building B 10% off already discounted
San Luis Obispo peripherals, & supplies but
549-0811 not including software.
FISBOSA Systems 10% - off packaged systems, soft-
3121 S. Higuera, F ware &/or peripherals when
San Luis Obispo purchased with system. Con-
549-9027 tact Lynne Boisen.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
======================================================
|| ||
|| ||
|| FLOPPY DISKS 4-SALE ||
|| ||
|| @ ||
|| ||
|| THE MEETING ||
|| ||
|| DSDD UNFORMATTED SYNCOM GENERIC 360K ||
|| with labels, tabs, and tyvek sleeves ||
|| ||
|| 1-9 ....... $.75 ||
|| 10+ ....... $.70 ||
|| ||
|| HIGH DENSITY DISKS 1.2 MEG ...... $1.10 ea ||
|| ||
|| NEW LIBRARY DISKS ......... $.90 ea ||
|| ||
|| Epson Ribbons (MX,FX) ||
|| Narrow - $3.00 ||
|| ||
======================================================
Modem prices:
FISBOSA
(minimum 10 any combination. No other discounts
apply.)
Everex Evercom II 300/1200 (internal)........... $79
Everex Evercom 24 300/1200/2400 (internal)...... $155
Everex Evercom 24E 300/1200/2400 (external)...... $165
Prices do not include sales tax. Prices good till May
3rd. Warranty 1 year.
-----
WITCO COMPUTERS
(minimum 5 any combination)
Franklin 1200 (Warranty 2 years) (internal)...... $75
Practical Peripherals 1200 (internal)............ $97
Practical Peripherals 1200 (external)............ $125
Practical Peripherals 2400 (internal)............ $179
Practical Peripherals 2400 (external)............ $209
Prices do not include sales tax. Practical
Peripherals warranty 5 years.
-----
COMPUTER SOLUTIONS
*(minimum 5 any combination)
Everex 1200 (internal)........................... $79
Everex 2400 (internal)........................... $161
Practical Peripherals 2400....................... $155
Prices do not include sales tax or shipping.
-----
PACIFIC EXCHANGES
SupraModem 2400 (external).................... $125.95
Prices do not include sales tax or shipping. No
minimum order. Mention you are club member. Call
543-1037.
-----
Note: All external modems require an additional serial
cable ($7-$15) and serial port on your computer.
Where group purchases apply (Fisbosa, Witco, &
Computer Solutions) contact Bob Ward @ 528-0121 eves
before the next meeting if possible.
* other quantity price breaks available. Check at
meeting.
======================================================
NEW MEMBERS
The following individuals signed up as new members at
our last meeting. Welcome one and all.
Paul F. Bramwell 544-4374
Jonathan D. Brinkerhoff 544-1533
Victor & Tammy Chen 544-4508
Julie Frederick 544-5128
Jim Godfrey
George Henderson 528-3892
Gerald & Barb. King 466-1056
Tony Luiz 466-1293
Mark Molini 543-7359
David K. Smith 466-8800
======================================================
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
TREASURER'S REPORT
John Rohde, treasurer, reported the following income &
expenses for the month of February, 1988:
Beginning Balance: $ 3173.64
Income: $ 414.30
Expenses: $ -160.69
Computer: $-1041.98
=========
Ending Balance: $ 2385.27
Current Membership: 171
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
KICKING THE PIPE HABIT
By Dave Benne (DOS Co-Chairman Beevard User's Group,
July, 1987)
Pipes should be avoided when they are not needed
because MS-DOS, being single tasking, must create an
intermediate disk file to pass the data between
programs. A pipe can add substantially to the
execution time of a batch file. For example try the
following batch files:
SCANBATS.BAT
ECHO OFF
TM START
FOR %%F IN (*.BAT) DO COMMAND /C READ
%%F
TM STOP
READ.BAT
ECHO OFF
CLS
ECHO %1
TYPE %1 | MORE
then try :
READ.BAT
ECHO OFF
CLS
ECHO %1
MORE < %1
The first READ.BAT took about twice as long to run as
the second READ.BAT when looking for about 5 BAT
files.
The SCANBATS.BAT cycles through all the .BAT files on
your disk.
So sometimes it doesn't pay to use piping. You have
got to decide which is better for your situation.
======================================================
CONFIGURING YOUR SYSTEM
By Peter N. Neuman
Hal-PC User's group
The FILES command in the CONFIG.SYS file tells DOS how
many files can be open at the same time. DOS reserves
an area of memory to keep track of each open file, so
the more files you allow to be open, the more memory
you use. The minimum (and default) setting is 8, and
the maximum is 255. The syntax for setting the
maximum number of open files is FILES=NN where NN is
the number of files DOS can handle at one time.
You may think that you do not need many files open,
but consider the following facts:
Whenever DOS is running, at least three files are
open: COMMAND.COM and the two hidden files.
An application program that has overlay files must
have at least two files open--one for the main program
and one for the overlay. In addition, it no doubt
uses data files. Even some simple programs
automatically make backup copies of the files you are
working on, and this increases the number of files
that must be open.
If you install device drivers or RAM-resident
software, each of these files must be open at some
time.
The manuals that come with application programs
sometimes tell you that you need a certain number of
files in the FILES command. Database applications,
particularly relational databases, often require as
many as 20 files in the FILES statement to function
properly.
======================================================
BAUD Versus Bps
Reprinted from Sacra Blue, newsletter of the
Sacramento PC User's Group.
Why is it increasingly common for computer magazines
to use "bps" instead of "baud"? Because "bits per
second" and "baud rate" are not the same. Did you
know that 1200 bps and 2400 bps modems both run at 600
baud?
Baud indicates the number of times that a modem's
carrier state changes per second. The tricky part
comes when you consider the number of different
states, because that tells how much information can be
squeezed over the phone line for a given number of
state changes. With only two states, for example,
each change of state is like going from 0 to 1, or
vise versa. Each change of state is thus equivalent
to one bit of information, so "baud" and "bps" would
be equal.
Now suppose that you can signal four distinct states.
Each state could be matched to the two-bit binary
numbers 00, 01, 10, and 11. "Bps" will now be twice as
much as "baud." Get the idea?
Standard 1200 bps modems run at 600 baud with four
carrier states, while 2400 bps modems run at the same
speed, but are able to distinguish 16 states. (to
compute bits per second, the general rule is to take
the base-2 logarithm of the number of carrier states
and multiply it times the baud rate.)
Of course, the more carrier states there are, the more
difficult it becomes to distinguish among the slightly
different phases that identify them. That's why 2400
bps modems cost more than the 1200 bps kind. They
aren't faster, as such; they just have better hearing.
======================================================
CALENDAR
April 7th GEM as demonstrated by Gus Thomasson.
He has guaranteed a dazzling display!
---> SCIENCE NORTH 215
May 5th COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE - accessing
bulletin boards.. A live demo.
---> SCIENCE NORTH 215
June 2nd ---> Meeting in Science North 213
Please note the room change for the months of April,
May and June. Disks will still be copied in Fisher
Hall 292 during this time.
======================================================
Setting a Default Path and Prompt
by Bill Todd
Reprinted from Chicago Computing Society
On my hard disk system I set the DOS search path to
C:\;C:\UTILS;C:\DOS in my AUTOEXEC.BAT file using the
DOS PATH command. This works fine while I am working
with DOS by causing the root, utilities and DOS
directories to be searched automatically for a program
and batch files.
When running certain applications, however, I want a
different path. That's easy since I use a batch file-
based menu system to start all of my applications
programs. These batch files all have the same basic
structure:
ChDirMove to appropriate directory
PathSet the desired path
RunProgramStart the program
PathSet the path back to the default
Unfortunately, one day I wanted to change the default
path. This mean that I not only had to change my
AUTOEXEC.BAT file but also every other batch file that
changed the path.
To avoid this problem, I now store the default path in
the DOS environment and any time I need to return the
path to its original value I use this stored value.
Here is how my AUTOEXEC.BAT file looks now:
SETDEFPATH=C:\;C:\UTILS;C:\DOS
PATH%DEFPATH%
The first command stores the path in the DOS
environment with the name DEFPATH. You can see all of
the strings in the environment by typing the command
SET alone.
The second command sets the DOS path to the string
stored in the environment. Using environment strings
in path files in this way is an undocumented feature
of DOS. That means that there is no guarantee that
IBM will continue to support it in future releases.
However, it has been available since release 2.0.
I have now changed all of my batch files to use this
method to return the path to its original set value.
Now if I want to change the default path all I have to
do is change the SET DEFPATH command in my
autoexec.bat file instead of searching through every
batch file on my disk.
This technique can also be used to store the default
prompt. Why would you ever want to change the prompt?
Have you ever been in a program like 1-2-3 or
Symphony, used the exit to DOS feature and forgotten
that you were in the DOS prompt each time you start a
program that has the ability to temporarily exit to
DOS. Using the PROMPT command you can put the
program's name or the word "shell~" in the prompt so
that it will appear anytime you jump out to DOS.
This means that when you leave the program you have to
set the prompt back to its original value. If you
have stored the default prompt string in the
environment, you can restore the original prompt as
described above.
======================================================
COMINGS & GOINGS
When the February 4th meeting of SLO BYTES PC USER'S
GROUP convened it was our full intention to dispose of
the business meeting in short order and continue on to
main presentation of the evening - A critique of
computer magazines. Our apologies to those of you who
came specifically to hear about this topic. It will
be rescheduled in the near future.
First on the list of business topics was the purchase
of a computer to run our bulletin board. A lengthy
discussion followed before the vote. The bulletin
board topic generated much interest with questions
asked about member vs. non-member privileges, cost of
maintenance, etc. The motion passed overwhelmingly
and the computer was purchased the following day from
Witco Computer Systems in San Luis Obispo.
Our system is an XT monochrome clone with 640K, 4.77
Mhz clock speed, 1 floppy disk drive, a 30 megabyte
Seagate hard disk and 2400 baud internal modem.
Although the target date for going on line was March
11th, the SYSOP worked so hard that a skeleton version
of the board was up and running by the evening of
March 6th. We have had great response so far with
many individuals logging on already. See the accomp-
anying article about the board.
A second motion was brought before the group (at this
time we were already running behind schedule) to
purchase a second computer. This would be used for
software presentations at the meetings. A lengthy
discussion followed, with the subject matter drifting
from the motion that was before the membership. In
retrospect, it was apparent that little progress was
made on this subject.
When the group was small (not many months ago) this
was not a problem. Now with the large audiences in
attendance a better semblance of order is needed to
get through the business meetings. Therefore don't be
surprised if some variation of parliamentary procedure
is invoked when necessary to help stream line the
meetings.
The motion to purchase a demonstration computer was
tabled until this coming meeting at which time it will
again be brought before the members. After a brief
(10 minute) discussion from the floor we will ask for
a 2nd and vote of the members. We will not drag on
the discussion as in the last meeting. If the
majority of members want to purchase something else
with our treasury, so be it. Vote NO on the existing
motion and continue with a new motion. But let's keep
it short and to the point so we can proceed to the
"fun" part of the meeting, the presentation.
Yes, as secretary, I too tend to ramble at the
meetings, but feel a brief introduction to new members
is in order, no matter how repetitious to the old
timers it may seem. We are always open for
suggestions!
This past meeting we recruited a very special member
to our club -- Tony Luiz. He uses a computer as a
means of communication with others. The portable
computer in attached to the front of his wheel chair.
With the use of a pointer on his helmet, Tony can type
out words and sentences. The computer then translates
the sentences into spoken words. We will attempt to
hook his computer up to our overhead projection system
so all of us can watch as he types.
After this brief demonstration of a very practical use
of a computer, Gus Thomasson will demonstrate GEM.
This software package is an "operating environment"
with the "mouse power" of a Macintosh. From GEM, a
never ending number of pull down windows is available.
Just "point and shoot" with your mouse, and hardly
touch the keyboard. Great for the "hunt and peck"
typists among us. I anticipate his demonstration
starting about 8 pm. It will last about 45 minutes.
The topic for our New User's meeting (6:15pm - 7pm in
Science North 213) will be our new BBS, of course!
George will have several overhead transparencies
showing many of the board's screens and menu's. This
will be a good introduction to those of you new to
telecommunications and bulletin boards.
On May 5th, I will demonstrate a shareware
communications package and we will go "on line" with
several local and two national bulletin boards. By
then, those interested in modems and bulletin boards
will be thoroughly indocrinated and "expert" on the
subject.
======================================================
SLO BYTES BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM
528-3753
2400/1200/300-8-N-1
Want to communicate with other SLO BYTE Members? Have
something to sell? Want to buy some computer
hardware? Need a program from our library, fast!
Want to send a private message to another club member
and be told when they receive it? Use your new
bulletin board. Yes, all these things and more can be
done through your BBS. What a great means of exchange
between members. I get several calls each month from
members asking "Do you know anyone who can help me
with _________? Why not ask the membership directly,
if not at a meeting then through the BBS. The SYSOP
(systems operator) has set aside several specific
message file areas for this purpose.
The first time you sign on to the board we suggest you
read ALL the bulletins. As some may be lengthy try
capturing the screens to a file. If you don't know
how to do that, then hit Ctrl-P or Ctrl-PrtSc so
everything coming across your computer screen will be
sent to the printer (yes turn you printer on).
Answer all the questions as they appear before you the
first time and you will be shortly upgraded from first
time user to member status. Presently, member status
includes access to all file and message sections and a
time limit of 120 minutes per day. Non-members are
restricted to specific file and message sections and
have a limit of 60 minutes.
Don't leave the board the first time without leaving a
message to the SYSOP. This will be your first message
for SYSOP's eyes only. Tell him what you think; what
you like about the board or what you would like to see
added or deleted. In a very short time, George has
put many many hours into what you already see. Notice
all the other message sections including: 1. Ask Dr.
DOS, 2. General Message area, 3. Member to Member, and
more.
Explore the file section. One section has computer
programs considered exceptional. Another section has
been set aside for the disks added to our library
during the previous 2 months. Yes, we even have the
latest FILE LOCATOR disks in the library. If you want
a special file or disk not presently on the BBS, leave
a message to the SYSOP and it will be posted for you
usually within 24 hours. George has added many files
to the BBS which are not in our library so look
carefully as many programs are in this BBS.
Whole disks start their filename with SB______ and
have the extension .EXE. These are COMPLETE library
disks which have been "squeezed" with PKARC and then
made self extracting. This means, for example, if you
type SB101 , several files will be mysteriously
extracted from this single file. With a 2 floppy disk
system, extract the files to a disk in your other
floppy drive. An example would be:
A>SB101 B:
If you have a hard disk extract them to a separate
subdirectory or a floppy disk. As an example:
C:\DOWNLOAD\SB101 C:\EXTRACT
The above command extracts SB101 found in the
subdirectory named DOWNLOAD to another subdirectory
called EXTRACT. Of course you can use any
subdirectory file configuration you wish.
There is a section for sending files only between 2
members. By password protecting the file, only the
person you are sending the file to may download it.
After the file has been received by the other person
the SYSOP will wipe it from the bulletin board.
Perhaps you are looking for a file with a certain
filename or a message on a specific subject. Use the
powerful text search command to look at the whole
bulletin board hard disk.
These are just a few of the many areas our BBS can
help you as a member of SLO BYTES PC User's Group.
There are many other fine bulletin boards in the area
which you can also explore with your computer and
modem. Give them all a try, they're free. That's
right no cost to the user.
Why do so many SYSOPS spend so much time, money, and
energy setting up a BBS? Who knows! I'm just happy
they do it. What a great source of communication
between fellow computer enthusiasts.
Bob Ward
======================================================
USEFUL UTILITIES UPDATE
by Dick Trueman
Although almost everyone has some kind of word
processor, wouldn't it be nice to have a handy full-
screen editing program to make minor document file
changes and create or modify batch files, like your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, for example? EDIT.COM is such a
program, and it's free (no donation requested).
EDIT is a 12K program which is very fast, since it
uses no overlays and keeps the entire source file
(limited to about 60K) in memory. Some of its most
useful features are:
-- Global search and replace
-- Block copy, move and delete
-- Function keys used to initiate most commands
-- Cursor movement convenient and fast
-- On-line help screen showing all commands
-- Easy insertion or deletion of lines
-- Last line deleted can be "undeleted"
-- Text from another file can be inserted at any
point
-- The current file can be renamed during editing
-- Tabs stops can be set
-- Line lengths of up to 255 characters allowed
EDIT is not fancy, but it's very quick and convenient
for many tasks. It doesn't have wordwrap and lots of
other goodies, but I have found it extremely handy
and useful for its designed purpose -- and the price
is right! It sure beats using EDLIN, the DOS-
supplied line-by-line editor! You will find EDIT.COM
and its documentation file EDIT.PRT on disk #117.
-----
LIST62A.COM is the latest version of an extremely
versatile program which can display files on the
screen under complete control, with forward or
backward scrolling line by line or page by page. You
need never use the DOS TYPE command again. Some of
the interesting capabilities of LIST include:
** Mark a block of text and print it or save it to
a file
** Find next occurrence of text going forwards or
backwards
** Move to a given line number in the file (LIST
always displays the count of the number of lines
to the current cursor line)
** Move a specified number of lines forward or
backward
** On-line help screen displaying all commands
** Screen can be split -- freeze top half and
scroll bottom half
** Optional display of a ruler line at the top of
the screen
** Hex values can be displayed for each character
Control codes, backspaces, etc. can be filtered
out
** For color monitors, there are different color
display modes
** By using wildcards, multiple files can be
displayed one at a time, and they can be stepped
through either forwards or backwards
LIST is shareware, and the author, Vernon Buerg, asks
for any amount ($15 suggested). There's no
obligation, but I use LIST and like it, so I sent in
$15. In return, I got a nice "thank you" and a full
disk of Buerg utilities! LIST62A.ARC is on disk #238.
You will probably also want to copy LISTMODS.ARC from
that disk.
======================================================
BITS N' BYTES
*** There will be a computer swap meet in Meadow Park
this Saturday from 1-4 pm. We have no other
details.
*** We have 35 copies of IBM UPDATE, a quarterly
report about IBM products. Pick one up at the
meeting.
*** There are 2 narrow carriage Epson ribbons left.
At $3.00 each it's a real deal.
*** I recently purchased a SupraModem 2400 modem from
Pacific Exchanges. With shipping and tax the cost
was $134.00. I will bring it to the meeting for
you to see.
*** If you are interested in a group purchase of
modems, call me before the next meeting @ 528-0121
or leave message on our BBS (528-3753).
*** Floppy disks will be available for purchase during
the whole evening. The disks will be moved from
the hallway in Science North to the computer room
(Fisher Hall 292) during the main presentation
(7:45-8:30). Sales will be handled by Sam Powers
who is our computer room monitor. We do need
other volunteers to take his place from time to
time. Sales of membership and check-out of ATI
training disks will occur from 6:15 - 7:30 and
after the main presentation.
*** Note the meeting places for the next 3 months.
New User's SIG will meet in Science North 213 from
6:15 - 7pm. Then we will migrate to 215 which is
a larger room for the main meeting.
======================================================
NEWS FROM OUR LIBRARY
The following disks have been added to our library in
the month of March:
NOTE: #188 & 189, PC-FILE+ ver 1.0, has been
renumbered to #249,250 & 251 due to increase in size
of ver 2.0.
PC-CALC+ formly found as PC-CALC v 3.0 on disk #106
has been renumbered to #252,253 & 254 due to increase
of size.
#106 Poker & Ultima21 PC-SIG #791) Good honest Draw
Poker and the ultimate game of 21.
#188 QubeCalc (PC-SIG #696) advanced spread sheet with
many features found in commercial versions
#189 NamePal (PC-SIG #706) Sophisticated address book
#255 ESIE, an artifical intelligence generator with
examples.
LIBRARY UPDATES:
#138 Extended Batch language to ver 3.04
#249 PC-FILE+ ver 2.0 program disk
#250 PC-FILE+ ver 2.0 utilities disk
#251 PC-FILE+ ver 2.0 documentation
#252 PC-CALC+ program disk
#253 PC-CALC+ utilities disk
#254 PC-CALC+ documentation
#248 EZ FORMS
DEMO DISKS:
#64 GhostWriter - application development system
#65 A&B TextPro by KnowledgePro A non-linear text
generator
======================================================